Joyous Blog

Blueberry Flax Oat Bran Muffins

These muffins remind me of raisin bran muffins my mom used to bake for my brother and I when we were little. I love these muffins. It's part taste and part texture. I just love the texture that oat bran gives these muffins. You actually feel like you're eating something substantial. As for the taste, they are super yummy!

They are the perfect snack for the mid-aft munchies!

These muffins are packed with fiber from the ground almonds, flax and oat bran. Oat bran isn't an ingredient I use that often, but I should! It has a lot of soluble fiber and once it reaches the digestive system absorbs nearly 25 times its weight in liquid. This means it fills it keeps you fuller longer. In comparison, it has about 50% more fiber than oatmeal.

My dear friend Candice made a variation of these for our little ones to snack on when I visited her last weekend and I just had to make them! The original recipe came from the Ambitious Kitchen blog but I made some joyous changes.

I made these muffins "mini" because they are good for little hands and then you can eat two or three.

These days, with Vienna being a little more picky, I'm always looking for creative ways to get her to eat superfoods like oats, flax or almonds. I have no trouble with blueberries, in fact she'd live off berries if she had a choice so it was a fair compromise to put blueberries in this muffin recipe.

Blueberries are super rich in vitamins and minerals anyhow, so we all win! (In the photo above, she's a bit of a mess... she has a cold right now and she smacked her head on her baby doll stroller -- eek! However, she's still super cute in my eyes :))

I've made these a few times already so I thought it was time I shared them on the blog. I made them again today because we are heading to Ottawa for a couple of days and my parents are looking after Vienna. So I wanted to have some easy snacks on hand for Vienbeans :)

They are not technically gluten-free but Bob's Red Mill brand does sell "gluten-free" oat bran.

If you make them grown-up size you'll have to bake them a little longer. I'm guessing about 5 to 7 minutes longer.

Now because I made them when blueberries are NOT in season I just used frozen organic blueberries. However, I can't wait till July/August when blueberries are in season!!

*Oat bran is just the bran part of the oat flake. Bob's Red Mill is the brand of oat bran I use. If you prefer to use whole oats, just make sure you grind them or put them in a food processor until they are a finer texture similar to oat bran.

**Make sure you let the blueberries thaw if you're using frozen.

Muffins are one of my favourite grab and go snacks these days, so I've compiled a bunch of my favourite muffin recipes from the blog for you below.

Beet Strawberry Muffins

Sweet Potato Protein Muffins

Coconut Flour Banana Spice Muffins

I hope these healthy and yummy muffins become a favourite in your home!

Hey Kirsten, For sure! If you have a copy of Joyous Detox, you can turn to pg. 81 to find a list of Egg Substitutions. Alternatively, you can use 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water (letting it sit for 10 minute together) and count that as 1 egg and simply multiply accordingly :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Beth • March 2, 2017

Hi Joy.
Being as how I have been advised not to have flax can I replace the flax meal in these blueberry oat bran muffins with 4 eggs.
Thanks. I love opening my mail and finding your post.

Hey Beth! The 1/4 cup of ground flax in this recipe isn't exactly used to hold the muffins together, but to add a bit of a nutritional boost. You could actually omit it altogether and it should be fine. Just please note that we cannot guarantee the success of the recipe when variations are involved as we have not tried it ourselves :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Nicole • March 2, 2017

So joyous to have this recipe. I'm pinning it so I can make it this week. Thanks!

Hey Nicole! Woo-hoo! Let us know what you think when you get around to trying it :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Jan • March 2, 2017

Just took these out of the oven and am enjoying with a cup of tea!!! I have a tree nut allergy and so replaced the almond flour for oat flour and they turned out great... definitely adding these to my muffin repertoire. Thanks!

Hey Melissa, It may help from a moisture standpoint. If we let them thaw while baking, it may release too much water into the muffins which may throw off the texture. But if you have done so in the past and haven't had it effect your end results, skip the thawing step :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Melissa Taylor • March 2, 2017

Made a batch of these today and they turned out perfect. Used regular sized muffin tin and, as you suggested, added 5 minutes to bake time. Thank you for the recipe!

Hey Maria, I'm not sure that would work in this recipe as chia and flax behave differently especially in baking! If you end up giving it a whirl, let us know how it turns out :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Hey Becki, I'm sure wheat bran would work just fine, although we haven't tried it ourselves so we wouldn't be able to guarantee results. Let us know if you get around to trying it though :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Jill • May 14, 2017

I'm going to make blueberry bran flax muffins but I don't have almond flour. Can I substitute for coconut flour. I was thinking that recipe calls for 3/4 almond four, so I was going to use 9 tablespoons coconut flour. Should I still add extra liquid?
Thanks!!!
Happy monthers day!

Hey Jill, You can definitely sub them but coconut flour can be a bit tricky to get the conversion down properly. Typically for 1 cup of almond flour you'll want to use about 1/4 cup of coconut flour and add liquid or eggs because coconut flour is so absorbent as you know. I would aim for just less than 1/4 cup coconut flour and use 3 eggs. Aim for a smooth batter instead of a cement batter! Just please note that we haven't tried this conversion ourselves so we cannot guarantee it will work. Good luck - let us know how it goes if you try it! Rachel - Joyous Health Team

Michelle • August 4, 2017

I have made these wonderful muffins more than once! But today I used canned coconut milk (same measurements though) and I added shredded coconut with the blueberries. They are amazing!!! Thank you for the great recipe Joyous Health :)